getting 6 month old to eat solids?

[ltille20]

Hey, i have a question, my 6 month old has showed no interest in eating solids, he is still exclusively breastfeeding. im not worried about his weight or anything he is in the top percentiles for weight and height, but i am wondering if there is anything i can do to get him to eat a variety of things? the pediatrician wasn't worried, and said i didn't even need to start until 7 or 8 months, but i though that was weird?

[Bec caV]

It's not weird... some babies don't need to start solids because they are plenty full on milk
If you want to get him eating solids though... well... that varies by baby, each one is different on what will work.

Are you trying rice cereal with breast milk? That's the easiest for them to transition to. If you've tried that and he isn't going for it, play around with the consistency. My boy (he's breastfed too) refuses still... after over 2 months, to eat it if it's too runny. He will pitch the biggest fit if it's runny. It took me some time, but I finally found the right consistency for him. Can't be too thick because it's too dry that way (he's always been good with swallowing), but it has to be thick enough that it's not runny.

It only took me three days to get him eating cereal. I was surprised it went so quickly. Once I had the consistency right, he'd eat a few bite and make a face and say "meh!" (baby for no I think ). So one evening, I sat him in his swing and then sat down in front of him with a bowl of cereal and just ate it while he watched me. He likes to mimic what we do. Then I got his cereal, put some on the spoon, and he grabbed the spoon, so I let him and just helped him guide it to his mouth. Since that night he's been eating solids like a pro.

But.... my boy likes to do things himself... I think it was letting him have the spoon that clicked it all in his head. But as it goes... every child is different.

When he's being fussy, I distract him with a toy or something. We taught him open wide (or BIG MOUTH! as I sometimes call it) by opening our mouths wide and then making a big deal of it when he mimicked it, and 'num num num' while making chewing faces when he's not swallowing to get him to swallow. When he's distracted and still not opening wide, I put the spoon to his lips so he can get a bit of a taste.
When you go to the jarred foods.... sweet things! Sweet potatoes were the first jarred food he actually ate, loved them from first bite. Fruits were harder at first, applesauce and pears were the first ones he'd eat, peaches were too sour but he started to really like them after a few days.

Best thing is to try every day until he will as well. It can take 10 days for them to actually start liking something, so if you try and he doesn't eat it, then don't keep trying until a few days later, you're starting all over again. Just keep trying

[AllBlueZoo]

Try rice cereal mixed with breast milk. Also let your baby just sit in a high chair a few minutes, them allow him / her to do this while holding and placing with a spoon. Good Luck. I never really had that problem my boy is a HAM.

Heather

[ltille20]

thank you for the feedback, i will play around with the consistency. i was just adding water to the oatmeal cereal, so maybe if i try breast milk it will be closer to what he is used to. but yea, ive been trying for about a month on cereal and mostly veggies, and he just has no interest. its funny, every other time his eyes are always on mine, but when it comes time to put him in the chair, he looks anywhere but at me. and refuses to open his lips... ha

[lismom2]

My 8 1/2 month old still doesn't like solids He is bf as well. Here's a good link for feeding the bf baby solids...
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html
Your babe is totally normal for not wanting solids at the moment

[Bec caV]

Try rice cereal, it's sweeter and he may like that more.
Also do only cereal, don't introduce anything else until he gets eating the cereal for two weeks. Then try fruit, not veggies. Applesauce is a good first choice as is bananas and pears. Breast milk is very sweet, veggies aren't, so you want to transition him to less sweet things.
Do each group (cereal, fruits, veggies) for two week before starting a different group. We did one fruit for three days, then tried another fruit for three days, then another for three days then about then the two weeks was up and we moved on to veggies. Sweet potatoes are a good first veggie.
Veggies are MUCH harder than fruits to get them to eat. That's why it's best to go fruit before veggies. Get him used to eating first, then try the stuff babies usually don't like eating.
With the fruits, the ones he wouldn't eat I'd mix with the cereal/breast milk for a day or two until he started getting used to the taste, then start the three day rule once he was eating it. Mixing the veggies with cereal didn't work. We're working on green beans right now, so I put half green beans, half sweet potatoes on the spoon and give it to him. Then give him a spoon full of green beans every so often during the meal, then right after it a spoonfull of potatoes.